PRIMARY ELECTION VOTE TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13TH 2016 CITIZENS UNION VOTERS DIRECTORY A NONPARTISAN GUIDE TO INFORMED VOTING VISIT WWW.CITIZENSUNION.ORG FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CITIZENS UNION PREFERRED CANDIDATES – 2016 PRIMARY ELECTION BRONX Senate District 33 Gustavo Rivera (D) Senate District 36 Jamaal Bailey (D) Assembly District 87 Luis Sepúlveda (D) BROOKLYN Assembly District 44 Robert Carroll (D) Assembly District 56 Tremaine Wright (D) MANHATTAN Senate District 31 Micah Lasher (D) Assembly District 65 Jenifer Rajkumar (D) Assembly District 72 Guillermo Linares (D) QUEENS Senate District 10 James Sanders, Jr. (D) Assembly District 33 Nantasha Williams (D) STATEN ISLAND Assembly District 62 Janine Materna (R) Can’t find your polling site? Visit nyc.pollsitelocator.com to enter your ad- dress and find your site and ballot information, or call the Board of Elections at 1-866-VOTE-NYC. Visit the website, www.GothamGazette.com or www.whosontheballot.org for complete information about all contests on the ballot. The Citizens Union Voter Directory Online has all this information and more. Browse the online directory, candidates’ questionnaires, and CU position state- ments at www.citizensunion.org Stay up to date with the latest happenings of the CU team and our work by liking our Facebook Page (facebook.com/citizensunion) and following us on Twitter (@citizensunionny) TABLE OF CONTENTS VOTERS DIRECTORY PRIMARY ELECTION 2016 About Citizens Union Mission . 2 2016 Mid-Year Review . 2 About the Voters Directory . 3 Purpose: To Inform and Share Evaluations . 3 Acknowledgments . 3 Primary Election Snapshot 2016 . 4 Senate and Assembly District Elections . 4 Bronx . 5 Brooklyn . 6 Manhattan . 7 Queens . 8 Staten Island . 9 No Contest: The Incumbent Index . 10 Report on Special Elections and Open Seats . 12 Salaries and Terms of Elected Officials . 14 Candidate Evaluations 2016 . 15 Evaluation Principles and Process . 15 Questionnaire: Legislative Candidates . 16 Questionnaire Quickstats . 20 Citizens Union Preferred Candidates . 21 Questionnaire Responses . 22 Legislative Candidate Evaluations . 26 Bronx . 26 Brooklyn . 30 Manhattan . 34 Queens . 40 Staten Island . 42 Voting and Registration Information . 46 1 ABOUT CITIZENS UNION MISSION Citizens Union (CU) is a nonpartisan good government group dedicated to making democracy work for all New Yorkers. Citizens Union serves as a civic watchdog, combating corruption and fighting for political reform. We work to ensure fair and open elections, honest and efficient government, and a civically-engaged public. We are New Yorkers from diverse backgrounds and political beliefs, connected to our communities and united in our commitment to put the city’s long-term interest ahead of all special interests. Principled and pragmatic, Citizens Union is an independent force for constructive reform, driving policy and educating the public to achieve accountable government in the City and State of New York. In keeping with our mission, CU aims to promote a competitive and diverse political culture, a fair and open political process, and accountable and responsible governance. 2016 MID-YEAR REVIEW Over the past year, Citizens Union has made notable progress in making our city and state government more open and accountable, our politics cleaner, and our elections fairer. Highlights of our successful efforts to “Make Democracy Work for All New Yorkers” include: • City Elected Official Compensation Reform: CU pushed for and achieved an end to stipends or lulus; a limit on outside income (the Council went further with a complete ban); make the recommendations of the quadrennial commissions occur during the third, rather than second year of the Council’s four-year term; and requiring public online access of the financial disclosure forms for the city’s elected officials. • Lump Sum Appropriations Report: CU released the fourth iteration of our watershed watchdog report on discretionary state spending, Spending in the Shadows – FY 2017. The report finds the executive state budget contains $2.4 billion in opaque “lump sum funds” that allow spending decisions to be made after budget bills are passed – behind closed doors, with no scrutiny – a formula ripe for corruption. • Policy Recommendation on City Elected Official Nonprofits: CU has called for nonprofits formed and affiliated with city elected officials to be subject to the jurisdiction of the campaign finance laws with disclosure of activity and contribution limits for those who do business with the city. • Police Accountability: In August, CU released a policy position statement seeking to increase police accountability to the public by calling for: clarity and consistency in police oversight; heightened independent oversight of the NYPD by strengthening the CCRB; and enhancing the NYPD’s internal oversight of officer misconduct. 2 ABOUT CITIZENS UNION • Constitutional Convention: CU is gearing up for a state-wide campaign for a YES vote in November, 2017, on whether or not New Yorkers should hold a Constitutional Convention. ABOUT THE VOTERS DIRECTORY PURPOSE This Tuesday, September 13th, New Yorkers will vote in the state primary to select party candidates for State Senate and Assembly. To help our Citizens Union members prepare to vote in the upcoming primary election, we bring you our 2016 Primary Election Voters Directory. The Voters Directory provides: • An overview of the 2016 elections, including voting and registration information and listings of every contest for all races that will be on the ballot in New York City on September 13th, 2016. • A roster of Citizens Union’s preferred candidates in several key districts, and information about the rigorous evaluation process and assessments of candidates. We caution voters that there may be last minute elimination or reinstatement of candidates on the ballot, so the list contained in this directory may have changed since this document was printed. Please also note that this directory does not contain candidates for Delegate to the Judicial Convention, district leaders, or committee positions. To obtain this information, visit the NYC Board of Elections website at http://vote.nyc.ny.us or call (866)VOTE-NYC. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This Voters Directory would not be possible without the hard work of members of the Citizens Union Board of Directors, Local Candidates Committee (LCC), staff and our summer interns. 42 Volunteer LCC members, 7 interns, and 6 staff members formed nonpartisan interview teams and evaluated 35 candidates in 15 races for State Senate and Assembly races. We also secured the answers to our questionnaire from many more candidates. We thank them for contributing their time, energy, expertise and commitment this summer to interviewing and evaluating candidates. We thank you for your support, and hope you enjoy the latest edition of the Voters Directory. 3 PRIMARY ELECTION SNAPSHOT Please note that this section lists races in which party primary elections will take place on September 13th, and does not include elections where candidates are unopposed for their party nomination. In the 2016 primary elections for State Legislature, while several Democratic races and one Republican race are competitive, a majority of New York City’s 91 State Senate and Assembly seats are held by incumbents who are running uncontested. The borough primary ballots also list candidates running for Civil Court Judge (in Brooklyn and Manhattan) and candidates for City Council (in the Bronx). Not included in this section are: districts where candidates are unopposed for their party nominations, and races for Delegates to the Judicial Convention, party district leader, or committee positions. ^ denotes that the candidate submitted the Citizens Union questionnaire, which can be found on page X. Bold denotes that the candidate is preferred by Citizens Union. To obtain that information, visit the NYC Board of Elections website at http:// vote.nyc.ny.us or call (866) VOTE-NYC. For information about the races in which incumbents face no primary opposition, please turn to page 10. 4 PRIMARY ELECTION SNAPSHOT THE BRONX BALLOT Please turn to page 26 for Citizens Union’s evaluations of primary candidates in the Bronx. NEW YORK STATE SENATE Democratic Primaries District 32 Ruben Diaz, Sr. (Incumbent) Jason McNeil Elliot Quinones District 33 Fernando Cabrera^ Gustavo Rivera^ (Incumbent) District 36 Jamaal Bailey^ Que English^ Pamela Hamilton-Johnson^ Edward Mulraine^ NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY Democratic Primaries District 78 Ischia Bravo District 85 Marcos A. Crespo (Incumbent) Jose Rivera (Incumbent) William Moore District 80 Irene Estrada District 86 Victor Pichardo^ (Incumbent) Mark Gjonaj (Incumbent) Hector Ramirez District 84 Carmen Arroyo (Incumbent) District 87 Luis Sepúlveda^ (Incumbent) Carmen Muniz Pamela Stewart-Martinez^ Jackson Strong^ NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL Democratic Primary District 17 Helen Hines Rafael Salamanca (Incumbent) 5 PRIMARY ELECTION SNAPSHOT THE BROOKLYN BALLOT Please turn to page 30 for Citizens Union’s evaluations of primary candidates in Brooklyn. NEW YORK STATE SENATE Democratic Primaries District 18 Martin M. Dilan (Incumbent) District 25 Michael Cox Debbie Medina^ Velmanette Montgomery District 19 Mercedes Narcisse^ (Incumbent) Roxanne J. Persaud (Incumbent) NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY Democratic Primaries District 42 Rodneyse Bichotte^ (Incumbent) District 46 Kate Cucco^ Victor A. Jordan^ Pamela Harris^ (Incumbent) District 43 Guillermo Philpotts District 53 Ken Belkin Diana Richardson (Incumbent)